PRINTING DEVICE AND OPERATION METHOD THEREOF
A printing device is capable of modifying a displayed operation menu. The printing device includes printing unit configured to print on a recording medium and a display unit in communication with the printing unit. The display unit is configured to display operation information thereon. The printing device further includes an operation unit configured to allow a user to input a user instruction onto the display unit; and a control unit configured to control the display unit to display an operation menu with a plurality of levels, each of the plurality of levels having a plurality of items, and further configured to change the display of an item of the plurality of items based on the user instruction.
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This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-179603, filed on Aug. 10, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELDEmbodiments described herein relate generally to a printing device and an operation method of a printing device in which an operator or user is able to freely move (or shift) a particular title of a plurality of titles (or items) displayed on an operation menu screen from a current position to another so that operability of the printing device is improved.
BACKGROUNDPrinting devices have multiple functions and applications requiring a considerable number of mode settings including print settings, paper selection, character (or font) settings, barcode printing or the like. This allows an operator or user to adjust various settings as required for printing. As a result, a significant amount of data storage is required to implement an operation menu that provides various mode settings.
Such printing devices provide an operation menu screen for selecting an item from a plurality of items (or options such as printing modes) with a hierarchical structure. In the printing device, in order to select a desired title from a plurality of titles (or items) displayed on the operation menu screen, for example, to set a printing method for a “Test Printing” to be a “Transfer” type, the operator needs to follow a top-down sequence of items in the hierarchical structured menu provided on the screen to reach the item “Transfer.” With this arrangement, if the operator needs to repeatedly perform the same operation by selecting the same item in the menu, the operator may perform similar time-consuming operations by going through the hierarchical structured menu items.
According to one embodiment, a printing device capable of modifying a displayed operation menu is disclosed. The printing device includes printing unit configured to print on a recording medium and a display unit in communication with the printing unit. The display unit is configured to display operation information thereon. The printing device further includes an operation unit configured to allow a user to input a user instruction onto the display unit; and a control unit configured to control the display unit to display an operation menu with a plurality of levels, each of the plurality of levels having a plurality of items, and further configured to change a display of an item of the plurality of items based on the user instruction. A change of display may include a change of order, a change in appearance, and a change in placement etc. Further, the control unit may change an order of the plurality of levels, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
Embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Now, a detailed description will be made as to a printing device 1 according to one illustrative embodiment with reference to
The printing device 1 with the above-described configuration allows the thermal head 17 to print, for example, price information, onto the label attached on the backing sheet, in response to the operational input provided from the operation unit 12 or the host computer H under the control of the control unit 11. Thereafter, the printing device 1 allows the conveying motor 18 to convey the backing sheet under the control of the control unit 11 so that the printed recording medium (e.g., the printed label) is discharged outside the printing device 1 through an outlet.
The operation menu screens as shown in
For example, travelling from the operation menu screen of the title “SYSTEM MODE” (of the first level in the hierarchical menu structure) as shown in
In other words, the operation menu is provided in the hierarchical structure as shown in
Further, under the item “PRINTING CONDITION SETTING” of the third level, listed as selectable options in the fourth level are items “NUMBER OF SHEETS TO BE ISSUED,” “PRINTING SPEED,” “SENSOR,” “PRINTING TYPE,” “ISSUE TYPE,” “LABEL PITCH,” and “PAPER FEED.” Further, for example, under the item “NUMBER OF SHEETS TO BE ISSUED” of the fourth level, listed as selectable options in a fifth level are “1,” “3,” “5,” “10,” “50,” “100,” “500,”“1000,” “5000,” or the like. Further, under the item “PRINTING SPEED” of the fourth level, listed as a selectable option of the fifth level is “CHANGE AT RESOLUTION,” and, under the item “SENSOR” of the fourth level, listed as selectable options of the fifth level are “NONE,” transmission “TRANS,” reflection “REFLECT,” transmission (manual) “MANUAL TRANS,” reflection (manual) “MANUAL REFL.” Further, under the item “PRINTING TYPE” of the fourth level, listed as selectable options of the fifth level are thermal transfer “TRANSFER” and heat-sensation “DIRECT.” Further, under the item “LABEL PITCH” of the fourth level, listed as a selectable option of the fifth level is “INPUT,” and under the item “PAPER FEED” of the fourth level, listed as selectable options of the fifth level are “NO FEED” and “FEED.”
In the operation menu as described above, as an example, it is assumed that the user often selects and uses a sequence of the title “SYSTEM MODE,” the item “<4>TEST PRINTING,” the item “<1>PRINTING CONDITION SETTING,” the item “PRINTING TYPE” and the option “TRANSFER.” Selecting such sequence of items (and performing a transition to a related list of items) requires performing a sequence of at least four operations, which may be unduly troublesome for the user. The present disclosure provides some embodiments of a method for reducing such troublesome operations and thus improving operability.
Specifically, as shown in
While in this embodiment, the position of the item selected by the user has been explained to be changed on the identical level of the hierarchical structured menu, embodiments are not limited thereto. For example, in an alternate embodiment, the position of the selected item may be moved between different levels in the hierarchical structured menu, for example, from a lower level to a higher level or the highest level. Specifically, for example, as shown in SCREEN (e) to (h) of
In a certain embodiment, the user may designate the item “TRANSFER” among the items listed in the operation menu screen of the item “PRINTING TYPE” as a priority item (e.g., by pressing a certain key on the operation unit 12) so that the designated item “TRANSFER” is listed and displayed under the title “<0>PRIORITY” of the first level as shown in SCREEN (i) and (j) of
In an alternate embodiment, the user may previously set a “usage number (frequency) of item (or title)” and a “destination of item (or title).” In this embodiment, the control unit 11 counts the frequency of using a respective item (or title) during a certain time period, and controls the respective item to be automatically moved (or shifted) to the preset destination when the usage number meets a preset usage number. This may eliminate the need for the operator to manually designate the displacement (or shift) and destination of the item, as described above
Specifically, the control unit 11 determines whether a current selected item was used (Act A4). If the determination result is YES, the control unit 11 determines whether the current selected item was used N times or more during a certain time period (e.g., one month) (Act A5). In Act A5, if the control unit 11 determines that the current selected item was not used N times or more, the process returns to Act A1 where the same operation as described above is repeated. On the other hand, in Act A5, if the control unit 11 determines that the current selected item was used N times or more, it moves the current selected item to a selected position (e.g., an upper line or a top line within the list on which the current selected item is listed or a certain line in the list on which the current selected item was not listed) (Act A6). For example, the item “MANUAL REFL.” that is placed at a fifth line on the list of the operation menu screen of the item “SENSOR” of the fourth level as shown in SCREEN (c) of
As described above, in the above embodiments, conditions of the destination and the displacement of an item (or title) may be set as one chooses, which allows the item to be automatically moved under the control of the control unit 11 according to the usage frequency of that item. Therefore, the user can easily select an item (or title) with a relatively high usage frequency, thus improving operability of the printing device 1.
As used in this application, entities for executing the operations can refer to a computer- related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, an entity for executing an operation can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on an apparatus and the apparatus can be an entity. One or more entities can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and an entity can be localized on one apparatus and/or distributed between two or more apparatuses.
The program for realizing the functions can be recorded in the apparatus, can be downloaded through a network to the apparatus and can be installed in the apparatus from a computer readable storage medium storing the program therein. A form of the computer readable storage medium can be any form as long as the computer readable storage medium can store programs and is readable by the apparatus such as a disk type ROM and a solid-state computer storage media. The functions obtained by installation or download in advance in this way can be realized in cooperation with an OS (Operating System) in the apparatus.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Claims
1. A printing device, comprising:
- a printing unit configured to print on a recording medium;
- a display unit in communication with the printing unit, the display unit configured to display operation information thereon;
- an operation unit configured to allow a user to input a user instruction onto the display unit; and
- a control unit configured to control the display unit to display an operation menu with a plurality of levels, each of the plurality of levels having a plurality of items, and further configured to change a display of an item of the plurality of items based on the user instruction.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein, based on the user instruction, the control unit controls an order of the plurality of levels based on the user instruction.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein, when a usage number of an item of the plurality of items exceeds a predetermined number, the control unit changes the display of the plurality of levels.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein, when a usage number of an item of the plurality of items exceeds a set number, the control unit changes a displaying order of the plurality of items within a particular level of the plurality of levels.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the control unit sets a position where the item is displayed in the particular level based on the predetermined number and the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
6. A method, for use in a printing device including a printing unit configured to print on a recording medium, an operation unit configured to allow a user to input a user instruction, and a display unit configured to display operation information thereon, the method comprising:
- displaying an operation menu with a plurality of levels each having a plurality of items on the display unit; and
- changing, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit, at least one of a display of the plurality of levels and a display of the plurality of items.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein changing the display of the plurality of levels includes changing a selected level of the plurality of levels to the highest level, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
8. The method of claim 6, wherein the display of the plurality of levels is changed when a usage of a particular item of the plurality of items exceeds a set number.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein the display of the plurality of items within a particular level of the plurality of levels is changed when a usage number of a particular item of the plurality of items exceeds a set number.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the changing includes setting a position where the particular item of the plurality of items is displayed within the particular level, based on the set number and the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
11. A computer-readable storage medium that stores an executable program which, when executed by a printing device including a printing unit configured to print on a recording medium, an operation unit configured to allow a user to input a user instruction, and a display unit configured to display operation information thereon, performs the operations of:
- displaying an operation menu with a plurality of levels each having a plurality of items on the display unit; and
- changing at least one of a level of a particular one of the plurality of levels where a particular one of the plurality of items is displayed and a displaying order of the particular item within the particular level, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
12. The medium of claim 11, wherein the changing includes changing the particular level to the highest one of the plurality of levels, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
13. The medium of claim 11, wherein the level of the particular level is changed when a usage number of the particular item exceeds a predetermined number.
14. The medium of claim 11, wherein the displaying order of the particular item within the particular level is changed when a usage number of the particular item exceeds a predetermined number.
15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the changing includes setting a position where the particular item is displayed within the particular level and the predetermined number, based on the user instruction provided from the operation unit.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 8, 2011
Publication Date: Feb 16, 2012
Applicant: TOSHIBA TEC KABUSHIKI KAISHA (Tokyo)
Inventor: Mitsunori NISHIO (Shizuoka)
Application Number: 13/178,626